Russia will give a "tough response" to the possible adoption of the so-called Magnitsky act in the U.S., Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich warned.

"We will certainly not leave without consequences an actual anti-Russian initiative on imposing visa and financial sanctions against our country simultaneously with the cancellation of the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, Lukashevich said at a news conference in Moscow on Thursday.

"We will have to respond, and our response will be tough," he said.

Russia's reaction will depend on "the final form of this unfriendly and provocative step," he said.

"We consider unacceptable attempts to tie the liquidation of such a Cold War anachronism as the Jackson-Vanik Amendment, which obstructs normal trade relations between Russia and the U.S., to human rights criticism of various kinds," he said.

"Bearing in mind gross human rights abuses in the U.S. itself, including actual legalization of torture and unlimited and extrajudicial holding of prisoners at CIA special prisons and at the Guantanamo base, the U.S. has no moral grounds to preach and lecture other countries," Lukashevich said.

The adoption of a Magnitsky act "will go against the spirit of cooperation between Russia and the U.S.," Lukashevich said. "If this is supported by the executive branch, Russia will not leave it unanswered," he said.

"Such a step would inevitably have a negative effect on the entire range of Russian-U.S. relations," he said.